Tag: Lenses
My guess is that most of you won’t be in a situation where you’ll be
photographing a subject speeding toward or past you at 220 mph, but
that’s exactly the challenge for Barry Zeek, who specializes in
capturing lightning-fast motor-sports action. You may, however, find
yourself photographing fast-moving subjects such as darting birds,
dashing animals and running athletes or skiers, high divers,
snowboarders, skateboarders and wakeboarders flying through the air.
Shooting action can be tricky, but with these tips, there’s a much
better chance that you’ll come home with successful images.
Wide-angle lenses display their merits in many different situations and
are highly desirable for any photographer. Specially designed optics
make them perfect for capturing large expanses in landscape photography
or big groups of people confined to tight areas. When you further
combine wide-angle lenses with the flexibility to zoom, their appeal
suddenly becomes even greater.
Far from simple marketing hype, the term “designed for digital”
encompasses the entirety of lens technologies unique to the demands of
image sensors and their various sizes. Unlike film, image sensors have
a shiny, flat surface. That surface is prone to causing internal
reflections of light that bounce back and forth between the image
sensor and the elements within the lens, otherwise known as ghosting
and flare.
Pop quiz, hotshot: Would you rather have a) an awesome camera and an
okay lens, or b) an okay camera and an awesome lens? The correct answer
is b—no doubt about it.
The everyday workhorse lenses with which most photos are taken don’t
receive the publicity showered on the more extreme optics. That’s
likely because extremes are always more exciting than the norm. We
continue that trend here and introduce you to the most extreme
wide-angle lenses and the widest-range zoom lenses available for
digital SLRs.
Q) My new lens came with a weird-looking lens shade. When do I use it? I’m told I should use it to avoid flair with the sun. Is that the only time?
To
get the most out of your D-SLR system, you’ll want to choose a variety
of lenses that offer the focal lengths, speed and features that match
well with your favorite subjects. The key to selecting the right lenses
is in understanding their capabilities and limitations and the types of
photography and situations to which each is best suited.
The
appeal of the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM is two-fold for me. The
lens offers the zoom range that I frequently use for most of my
photography. The equivalent of a 38-168mm lens on my Canon EOS 20D, it
provides me with the flexibility to shoot virtually any subject, from
portraits to street scenes. Additionally, its Image Stabilizer feature
helps ensure that I get sharp results despite hands that aren’t as
steady as they used to be.
Users
of 35mm SLRs have long enjoyed extreme-range zoom lenses of 28-200mm
and, more recently, 28-300mm. These lenses can be used on digital SLRs,
too, but since most D-SLRs have image sensors that are considerably
smaller than a full 35mm film frame, these zooms provide a much
narrower field of view when used on D-SLRs— equivalent to 42-300mm and
42-450mm on a 35mm SLR.
Wide-angle photography opens up vast new vistas to the photographer,
but “going wide” presents a special challenge to the digital-SLR user.
That’s because the image sensors used in most D-SLRs are considerably
smaller than a 35mm film frame and thus “see” a smaller portion of the
image produced by any lens than that seen by a 35mm SLR. As a result, a
given focal length produces a narrower angle of view when used on a
D-SLR than when used on a 35mm camera.
From
the moment it was created, photography has been inseparably connected
to technology. Born of light-sensitive substances coated on a metal
plate and now evolved to today’s CCD and CMOS sensors, photography’s
growth has been measured as much by its technological advances as it
has by the creativity of its photographers.
Tokina’s first lens produced exclusively for digital SLRs, the AT-X 124
AF Pro DX is a 12-24mm lens that combines rugged construction, internal
focusing and a constant fixed aperture for terrific performance.
Designed for Nikon and Canon digital SLRs that are built around an
APS-sized sensor, the lens features a focal length equivalent of
18-36mm (1.6x lens magnification). In addition to wide-angle coverage,
the AT-X 124 AF Pro DX also features a constant ƒ/4 aperture throughout
the zoom range.
I love being surprised by the world, and a macro lens is a great way to
discover those surprises. A macro lens lets you isolate and focus in on
the often amazing and unexpected details around us. I had the chance to
work with Sigma’s new 150mm ƒ/2.8 macro lens (officially, APO Macro
150mm ƒ/2.8 EX DG HSM), and this combination of focal length and wide
aperture offered a wonderful experience in exploring the realm of the
close-up.
If you’re looking for a low-priced, compact set of lenses that offer a
great range for small-format digital SLRs, check out Sigma’s new pair,
the 18-50mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 DC and the 55-200mm ƒ/4-5.6 DC. These are ideal
all-around focal lengths offering wide-angle and moderate telephoto
ranges. Designed specifically for digital cameras (indicated by the
DC), this combo typically offers an equivalent focal length range of
27-300mm on a small-format digital SLR for a 35mm camera. The image
circle of these lenses won’t cover a standard 35mm film frame.
A trip to the camera store these days will show you an astonishingly
vast array of lenses, from tiny zooms on compact digital cameras to big
telephotos for digital SLRs. Many of these lenses are based on designs
that were unheard of just a few years ago. They offer you new
opportunities to expand your photographic capabilities—knowing what the
lenses can do for you will help you make a better decision in your
camera and lens purchasing, whether that means checking the zoom range
of an advanced compact, buying a new lens for a digital SLR or
comparing lens speed among any group of lenses.
The new Di series of lenses are Tamron’s Digitally Integrated
optics. They’re designed to meet the performance characteristics of
digital SLR cameras and image sensors. Like the other lenses in the Di
line, the new SP AF28-75mm ƒ/2.8 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) Zoom is
optimized for a digital camera, but it will function fine on a
film-based SLR body.
